Kiln People

Plot introduction

The novel is set in a future where people create clay duplicates called dittos or golems. A ditto retains all memories of the original person, known as an archie or rig, up to the moment of duplication.

The duplicate lasts about a day, after which the original may choose to upload its memories. Dittos are affordable even for the poor and are used for work or pleasure that could harm a real person. They come in various colors indicating quality and role: green for cheap housework, gray for business, ebony for data analysis, platinum for the very rich, and ivory for sexual fulfillment.

Plot summary

Albert Morris, a private detective, uses dittos extensively and achieves a fidelity rate rarely seen in this world. The novel opens with a green ditto fleeing from ditto thugs of Beta, a criminal who kidnaps desirable dittos for illegal duplication. Albert inloads the green's memories and foils Beta's scheme. The next morning, Albert creates two gray dittos and a green, sending them on errands; after four hours of sleep, he imprints an ebony to assist with a case.

One gray meets Ritu Maharal, daughter of Yosil Maharal, a co-founder of Universal Kilns who has disappeared. Yosil is later found dead, and the gray encounters ditMaharal, a ditto surviving after the original's death. ditMaharal flees, and when the gray follows, he is captured. The second gray is duped into carrying a bomb into the Universal Kilns factory to investigate withheld technical advancements; he realizes the plot in time and minimizes the explosion.

The green, assigned chores, loses motivation, goes to the beach, and decides he is an imperfect copy, or frankie—an unprecedented event for Albert. The green claims independence and becomes important to the plot. Meanwhile, Albert disguises himself as a gray ditto and meets Ritu, also disguised as a gray. They learn of an attack on Albert's home while heading to Yosil's cabin, then survive an attempt on their lives and become stranded in the desert.

They reach ditMaharal's secret lab, where the first gray is held, and the green frankie arrives shortly before expiring.

Did You Know?

• The novel was published in the United Kingdom under the title Kil'n People.
• It was short-listed for four different awards for best SF/fantasy novel of 2002 – the Hugo Award, the Locus Award, the John W. Campbell Award, and the Arthur C. Clarke Award – each time finishing behind a different book.
• The term "frankie" used in the novel is a fictional slang word derived from Frankenstein's monster.